Fundraising: Part 5 - Giving a Fundraising Speech

Know your audience. It's important to cater to the group you are speaking to. You need to tailor your speech based on your audience. Are they students, church members, business people? Also, keep in mind what you have in common with your audience. If people feel like they can relate to you, they are more likely to listen to you and keep their attention on you. Even if you think that you have nothing in common, dig deep and find something. It'll pay off (both literally and figuratively).

Tell stories. Pick a story from your experience. Make it heartfelt. Relate it to yourself and your audience. Make them feel compassionate toward your cause, because then they'll be more likely to help you out when you start asking for money.

Don't just talk in statistical terms. No one remembers the exact percentages and numbers. People remember stories. They remember compelling, heartwarming, and sometimes even bittersweet experiences that someone tells them about. Statistics don't put things into perspective for most people. It's better to talk about one person that you met and do know versus the million people you don't know talked about in a statistic.

If you can, use props to tell your story or relay your message. It could be a can of coins, an ice cube in a glass of orange juice, or a ruler. Tell them how every penny counts, how this is just the tip of the ice burg, or how every donation helps inch by inch. No matter how you use your prop, it not only helps your audience remember your story better, but helps you remember how to tell your story, as well.

Be careful with PowerPoints. If you do use a PowerPoint, don't read word for word from it. In fact, don't make your PowerPoint wordy at all. Instead, have photos, because these are more effective than words. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, avoid the PowerPoint unless it's completely necessary.

Practice makes perfect. Seriously. Prepare, prepare, prepare! Practice helps everyone, even the most talented of speakers. We all know that public speaking can be scary, so start practicing in advance and get comfortable speaking in front of friends and family if you need to. If you need to, write an outline to keep yourself on track. Speak slowly and deliberately so that people can hear and understand you.

Make it CLEAR how people can help. If you get up and give your speech, but never mention HOW they can help your cause, you're cause is hopeless. Give at least two or three concrete ways people can help, either by donating on the spot, signing up for emails, coming out for a walk, or some other event.

MEMORIZE your conclusion! This is important! You really want to drive home your last point, and you want it to be big, inspiring, and exciting. You want people to walk away WANTING to help you and donate to your cause, so having a killer ending, memorizing it and delivering it like a pro will work to your advantage.

Speak from your heart. Show your audience that you care about your cause. If they can tell you're not "in it" then they won't feel compassion for your cause, because you don't show compassion for your cause. Be honest, be sincere, be passionate. People connect to these traits.

Don't worry about the things you forget once you're done and you're walking away. What's said is said, and that's they best you can do, so don't beat yourself up over it. Instead, write the things you forgot down so that you can include them in your next speech. However, move on. No matter how many speeches you give, there will ALWAYS be something you feel like you left out, so get over it and be happy with how well you did instead.




Additionally, here are some books to read if you're really interested in public speaking:

Say It Like Obama: The Power of Speaking With Purpose and Vision by Shel Leanne
Quick and Easy Way to Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie
Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds


Do you have any home run tips for public speaking? Share your thoughts and ideas in a comment!

Fundraising: Part 3 - Expanding Your Organization

There are many ways to expand your organization so that you have more members who are able to help you fundraise. Yesterday I covered how to maintain membership in your organization, and today I will discuss ways to expand your membership.

First:
Recruit, recruit, recruit!

Talk to your friends, family, coworkers, classmates. Anyone who you can think of that will listen. Even if only two people from each group join, that's still 8 more people in your organization than before, and that's 8 more people with ideas for fundraising. Also, don't be afraid to tap the resources of other organizations, even ones you aren't involved in. Go to meetings of other organizations and speak briefly about yours. Maybe a few will decide to join.

Be sure to hold events to get your name out there. Have a table at activity fairs, expos, conventions, whatever there may be in your town or school. That way you are able to talk to people who are already open to looking for new organizations to join and participate in.

Take advantage of Listservs. Different universities and colleges have different regulations, so contact listserv administrators to find out what the rules are. But send out mass emails. Most people probably won't read your email, but there are always some people who do, and those people may be the ones who decide to come out to your next meeting. Listservs can be in all different varieties--classes, other clubs and organizations, offices on campus, departments, athletics, or even the entire university or college. Use these listservs to your advantage and send out an information filled, but brief email. If your email is too long, no one will read it. Make it short, sweet and to the point with all the important and relevant information about meeting times and places.

When you attend events to get your name out there, make sure that your purpose is clear. Have posters, photos, a slideshow on a laptop, and people who understand the mission of your organization there to answer questions. Set up a table during a high traffic time in a main building on campus. Cosponsor events with other organizations. Get noticed!

Be heard! Get out and talk about your organization. Give speeches, talk in front of your class briefly before it starts if your professor allows you to, network with other groups who have similar goals or topics. All of these are great ways to expand your membership.

Hold interest meetings! I stressed this is my post yesterday, but they are really important! People who want to join might feel funny coming out for a regular meeting without really knowing what you're all about, so interest meetings are a safe way to allow people to hear your spiel.

Don't forget to have fun! If you are fun, happy and welcoming people will feel more comfortable approaching you and getting involved! Have socials, movie nights, potluck dinners, etc. These create a relaxed atmosphere where people can get involved while having some fun with food or a movie.

Fundraising: Part 2 - How To Retain Membership In Your Organization

The first presentation that I attended for the SHH Fundraising Summit yesterday was called: "How to Retain Membership At Your School's SHH Chapter."

This can apply for any organization or association, however, and not just a chapter of SHH at a university.

Hold interest meetings year round. These don't have to be weekly, but perhaps once every other month in order to allow people to come out and learn around your organization. It's important that new members feel welcome, and interest meetings are a great way to obtain this goal. Create conditions that make it easy for people who come to interest meetings to attend your regular meetings. Send out reminder emails three days before a meeting, and also the night before or the day of so that people won't forget. It's easy to forget meeting times, locations and details, especially if you're as busy as I am, so being the head of your group means that it's your responsibility to make sure new members have reminders. You can also distribute flyers, post signs, market your events, and use social networking sites like Facebook.

Once you get some new members, make them feel welcome. Don't scare them away. Involve them in meetings through icebreakers, where both new and old members can introduce themselves and have fun getting to know each other. Also give newcomers simple tasks that make them feel needed, but be sure not to give them too large of a task, or else they will feel overwhelmed and not come back.

Make sure you have an agenda for your meetings. Have an activity planned. Make the meetings fun and enjoyable, so that people desire to return to upcoming meetings. Plan events for fundraising, socials, or whatever it may be. Get people involved & feeling needed.

Make sure you distribute evaluation or suggestion sheets on a fairly regular basis. Allow members to input their own thoughts about what they life or do not like. Members are full of good ideas for how to make your organization stronger and better, so give them the opportunity to voice those opinions in a constructive way.

Make phone calls instead of emailing every once in a while. This gives your organization a more personal tone, and shows your members that you're interested enough in keeping them involved that you go out of your way to individually talk to them. Have socials, as well, because bonding is important for groups. This gives your members the opportunity to form lasting friendships with you and with each other.

Don't let your members get:

1) Burnt-Out - don't give them too much responsibility, because this can overwhelm them and deter them from coming back.

2) Cooled-Out - don't give them too little responsibility either, because this will make them feel unneeded and again, deter them from coming back.

3) Kept-out - make sure new members don't feel alienated from the group. Involve them through icebreakers, activities, and socials. Avoid inside jokes amongst veteran members, as this makes newcomers feel unwelcomed and "outside" of the circle.

4) Pulled-out - Keep your meetings fun! Crack a joke, have a reflection, learn something new, invite a speaker to your meeting. This gives diversity and variety to your meetings and keeps member from drifting away over time, or pulling out of your organization.

Establish challenging and creative goals. Don't set your sights too low, instead set them fairly high so that way you challenge your members to go above and beyond their perceived "limits." Once you achieve your goal, or even if you come up short, show your appreciate for all of the hard work by sending your thanks to your members, or by holding a social in order to celebrate. Perhaps institute a "Hustler of the Week" award so that each week you can honor a member who went above and beyond the expectations. Keep your group focused on the serious issues, but have fun, too!

Make sure you educate new members about the issues you discuss or the topics you cover. If there is any unfamiliar terminology, define it so that new members can understand what you are talking about during meetings. Discuss the mission of your organization often, so that everyone can be familiar with it.

Increase motivation of your members by allowing them to choose the jobs they want to do. Instead of assigning jobs, give them the opportunity to pick. That way you will gain the most out of the work your members do because they are doing the jobs they enjoy. During your meetings, create an enjoyable and comfortable atmosphere, perhaps by playing relevant music, having a slideshow of photos from past events, or allowing a member to talk about their ideas for fundraising or other goals.

There are so many ways to retain your membership, and these are only some.

Do you have any ways that you retain membership for an organization that you are involved in?
Have you ever started an organization?

Leave a comment with your ideas and thoughts!

Fundraising: Part 1

Traveling is fun. You get to learn a lot, you get to try different foods, you get to meet many people.
However, it's expensive.

I've learned that fundraising, especially for service trips, is one of the best ways to help ease the expenses of traveling.

Today I went to the SHH Fundraising Summit at George Mason University in Virginia. SHH (Students Helping Honduras) is the organization I went through for traveling to Honduras several weeks ago over winter break. I was fortunate enough to apply and receive a scholarship for the full cost of the trip (minus airfare and the country exit tax), so that I did not have to do fundraising for this specific trip, but if I want to return in the future, and seeing as how I do want to,  I will most likely have to fundraise in order to afford it.

So todays conference was a great way to brainstorm ideas for fundraising and learn about starting an SHH Chapter at La Salle University.

I went to four of the eight presentations:
1.) How To Retain Membership For Your University's Chapter of SHH
2.) Expanding Your University's Chapter of SHH
3.) Fundraising Tips: Fundraisers That Work, and Fundraisers That Don't
4.) Giving a Fundraising Speech

The other four that I did not have time to attend were:
5.) Raise $600 In Two Hours: Letter Writing Campaigns
6.) Hosting a Successful Skype Chat
7.) Organizing a Service Trip
8.) Raise $40 An Hour By Selling SHH Coffee

Of the four presentations that I did have time to attend, I'm going to post an overview of the ideas from each one in a series of 5, starting with this post as my introduction.


Fundraising is difficult; it is time consuming; it takes a lot of effort, energy and patience. However, it is extremely rewarding. Whatever the cause, fundraising can be a great way to unite your group and create a fun bonding experience if done with enthusiasm and charisma. Although it's tough to fundraise, staying positive and being smart about decision making can make for a pleasant and successful experience--one that group members will enjoy and remember.

I've done a lot of fundraising over the past three years, and I've learned a lot of good and bad things to do. Going to these presentations was a great way to compile others' experiences with my own in order to form new ideas for future fundraising. I've actually enjoyed doing the majority of the fundraising that I've had to do--which is a good thing seeing as it's something that I'll probably be doing for the rest of my life with my tentative possible career choices for my future.


As for SHH, today marked the beginning of our 100 Day Fundraising Campaign to raise $200,000.
$100,000 will go to the Education and Empowerment Fund.
$50,000 will go to a Children's Home.
$50,000 will go to an income generating business center for Villa Soleada.

It's a huge goal, but one that is 100% achievable. There are, as of right now, 34 colleges, universities and high schools pledged to raise money for SHH. It's incredibly empowering to know that we are all working together for this common goal to help the people we all love who live in Honduras in Villa Soleada.